Nature conservation can be big business

By : Jaswinder Kaur
Email to friend         Print article

Carbon sequestration may sound a little arcane but it's doing a world of good in the fight to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The trading of biodiversity credits may be Sabah's next big thing.

SABAH, globally recognised for its biodiversity and unique wildlife, has been for more than a decade doing its part to offset greenhouse gases produced in industrialised nations halfway across the world.

Hooking up with international partners, the state is currently implementing two notable carbon sequestration projects designed not only to help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere but to rehabilitate logged-over forests and implement sustainable forestry methods through outside funding.

(Carbon sequestration refers to the long-term storage of carbon in "sinks", such as forests, to reduce the build-up of carbon dioxide, a principal greenhouse gas, in the atmosphere.)

One initiative is the Innoprise-Face Foundation Rainforest Rehabilitation Project (Infapro), established in 1992 to rehabilitate 25,000ha of degraded forests through enrichment planting in the Danum Valley, in eastern Sabah.
The aim of Infapro, a joint venture between Yayasan Sabah's investment arm Innoprise Corporation Sdn Bhd and the Face Foundation of the Netherlands, is to increase the capacity of the once logged-over forest for carbon sequestration.

In this collaboration, Face Foundation owns the carbon dioxide credits while forests and other benefits of rehabilitating the area go to Innoprise.

Dr Waidi Sinun of the Sabah Foundation's Research and Development Division said so far, more than 11,000ha of forests had been rehabilitated through the collaboration.

The enrichment planting is supported by a large nursery with the capacity to produce more than a million dipterocarp seedlings, while maintaining stocks of 30 or more dipterocarp and other indigenous tree species.

Another carbon sequestration initiative involving Yayasan Sabah is a Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) project on a 1,000ha site within its concession area, funded by the United States-based UtiliTree Carbon Company, a non-profit organisation sponsored by 40 North American utility companies.

UtiliTree administrator John Kinsman said planning for the RIL project began in 1996 and implementation and auditing started a year later. Research has shown that RIL, when properly implemented, is capable of reducing by half the damage to soil and smaller trees caused by conventional logging.

In an email reply, Kinsman said the project had helped to absorb an estimated 147,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2000, and that the projected sequestration of the gas was 379,000 tonnes in a 40-year period.

Protecting the environment is one of the principles of the Sabah Development Corridor, which allows the sustainable growth in industries such as eco-tourism, agriculture and manufacturing.

The Kyoto Protocol, which requires industrialised nations to reduce emissions of six greenhouse gases by 2012 to a level relative to 1990 emissions, provides mechanisms for the transfer of carbon credits.

The potential for managing carbon levels through forestry is significant in Sabah, which can be achieved through sustainable management techniques and creation of new carbon sinks by replanting degraded forests.

Having seen the benefits of carbon sequestration projects, Sabah is now leading the way with a concept that is largely alien to Malaysians: selling biodiversity credits to raise funds for wildlife habitat protection.

Thus, the "conservation bank".

The bank is a joint venture between Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Yayasan Sabah, and Sydney-based New Forests Pty Limited to develop a commercial wildlife habitat at the Malua Forest Reserve.

The first of its kind outside the United States, its concept of selling biodiversity credits is akin to selling shares for those keen to invest in conservation. A signing ceremony was held in November last year, and operations are expected to begin as early as next month.

Target buyers of biodiversity credits are palm oil and energy companies.

New Forests managing director David Brand said the objective of the joint venture was to create a winning situation for all parties.

"Palm oil companies can help protect the rainforest, private investment can make a return from rainforest rehabilitation and conservation, and the government can offer a solution to current concerns surrounding oil palm plantations.

"We hope that with a commercial approach to conservation, we may be able to contribute to a sustainable landscape that includes palm oil, timber production and wildlife all being managed on a commercial basis in harmony."

New Forests director Radha Kuppalli said the company was finalising the legal and technical documents required to operate the conservation bank.

"We plan to start marketing biodiversity credits next month. We will be discussing with key foresters and scientists in Sabah conservation plans for the Malua Forest Reserve," Kuppalli said.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, who welcomed the effort, has called on all sectors, including the palm oil and petroleum industries, to contact New Forests to purchase credits from the bank.

"The setting-up of the bank is proof of our commitment to conserve our forests."

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/Columns/2143155/Article/index_html